And here it is! The long-awaited preview blog for the 2008 Cleveland Indians season. Before I begin, what a 2007 it was! Much like the original Major League, the Indians were a bunch of upstarts who rallied in the end to beat the Yankees, but, as we found out in Major League II, the Indians lost in the ALCS to the…wait for it…White Sox.

So maybe it’s not exactly like the movie.

But anyway, here we go. I’ll start with a to-do list of what I would do if I were Mark Shapiro (and thus what I believe he should do before Spring Training is over.

The To-Do List

Trade Cliff Lee, David Delucci and Andy Marte for whatever I can get. Marte being traded is provisional based on his play during Spring Training, but I anticipate that it wouldn’t be good enough to merit keeping him. Marte has obvious issues playing in cold weather, which is a problem not only in the beginning of the year but in the playoffs as well, and to me does not provide an upgrade defensively or offensively at third.

As for Cliff Lee, he is part of a trio of left-handed starters (joined by Aaron Laffey and Jeremy Sowers). The Indians’ future, in my mind, has room for two left-handed starters (barring injury), so who is traded is really a matter of personal preference, but a trade is necessary. Of the three starters, Lee is the oldest, is paid the most, but probably has the most trade value due to his experience. He is signed through 2009, and was paid $3 million last year, making him a relative bargain for a team like Tampa Bay who is looking to build for the future and has room to take some risks – and Tampa Bay is loaded with prospects.

Finally, David Delucci. Nothing against the guy, I just feel that Ben Francisco/Shin-Soo Choo is our future left fielder and that Delucci is good trade bait. Of the three, he’s the one I don’t mind keeping as much.

Make an offer to C.C. This should be obvious. I’m not saying sign him, necessarily – to me, he has a lot to prove in the postseason – but an offer should be made. I would give him the years he wants (which is rumored to be about 5) and maybe offer about $20 million a year. That’s far less than Santana got and a deal I think the Indians would be thrilled with. If we don’t sign him now though, don’t panic – we still have plenty of time.

A pretty short to-do list. But that’s a credit to Shapiro’s work so far, he’s done a heck of a job.

Opening Day Lineups

On March 31, the Indians will take the field at Progressive Field (hold your groans please) against the Chicago White Sox. I’ll assume Mark Buehrle (had to check the spelling) will start for the Sox, against C.C. for the Indians. Here’s my proposed starting lineup:

The lineup might surprise you a bit – I’m a huge Ben Francisco fan ever since I saw him play for the Captains, and he did a great job in the beginning of the summer too – and also, Buehrle is left-handed. As for the rotation, I put Laffey ahead of Byrd in order to stagger the right-handers and left-handers (LHP, RHP, RHP, LHP, RHP).